14 Minutes
by Derry
Summary: The time it takes to get from the Molina Bridge to Tree Hill Hospital. Missing scene from season 4 episode 1. Haley's POV


**Title: **14 Minutes

**Author: **Derry

**Genre:** Angst, H/C

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them. No profit made.

**Characters:** Haley, Nathan, Lucas

**Spoilers:** Mainly the first episode of season 4, references to any other episodes are pretty vague.**  
**

**Summary:** It takes 14 minutes to get from the Molina Bridge to Tree Hill Hospital. Missing scene from season 4 episode 1. Haley's POV

**Other notes: **I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but opinions expressed about some characters in this fic are those I'm attributing to Haley, not my own opinion of said characters. For instance, I actually quite like Rachel as a character, but at the time this fic is set, Haley _really_ doesn't like her (and with some justification). So, not trying to "bash" any character here, just saying. But any feedback on the fic is appreciated, including criticism.

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Luke yells to her from the water and tells her not to look. It's quite possibly the stupidest thing he has ever said. Haley's gaze immediately turns to where he's looking, towards the opposite side if the river from where Cooper now is lying with Karen kneeling beside him.

She starts running as soon as she sees, but Luke is closer (and undoubtedly more athletic) than she is. He'll get there first, even though he has to swim there. The insane urge to also leap down into the river once again flits through her mind. In this dress (her perfect dream wedding dress) she'll probably sink like a stone. The rational part of her mind knows that it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do, but the rational part of her mind pretty much went AWOL about ten minutes ago when Nathan went into the water. She almost jumped in after him then.

Her mind turns back to just before that, seeing the limo hurtling towards them, with Cooper at the wheel and Rachel trying to grab it from him. She remembers shouting a warning and Nathan slamming on the brakes, as they watched it tumble off the bridge. It sank beneath the surface before they'd been able to get out of their own car. Sank without a trace, taking with it Nathan's last living uncle.

It seems like only yesterday that Keith was taken from them so suddenly, brutally and senselessly. She can understand why Nathan couldn't bear to lose another uncle so soon after, especially since he seems to be closer to Cooper than he ever was to Keith. She should have known that this was inevitable. She's already seen what kind of reckless, heroic idiot her husband can be when someone he loves is in danger. She saw it on that same terrible day that they lost Keith - disregarding all advice and defying all sense to come looking for her, putting himself between her and a loaded gun. She loves him, but he's an idiot. One day it's going to get him killed, _but please, not today!_

It's only a few hours ago that they once again pledged their forever and always. And he told her that he loved her once more, just before he literally threw himself headlong into deadly danger. She couldn't dissuade him, no matter how desperately she pleaded, and after the splash settled and too few bubbles rose to the surface, Nathan was gone without a trace. She couldn't tear her eyes away from where she'd seen him disappear, not throughout her hysterical 911 call, not until she heard the engine of another car coming towards her.

She can't think of a time that she has been more grateful to see Lucas and Karen. Despite how frantic and garbled her explanation was, Luke got it instantly. Nathan was down there. He hadn't come up for air in far too long. Immediately on the same wavelength, they shared a moment of false hope (mixed with panic) when they saw a body suddenly break the surface of the water and Luke unhesitatingly jumped in - only to find that it was not whom either of them had hoped it would be. Cooper. Not her husband. Not his brother.

Haley thought her heart would burst from the panic and fear, when Luke then dived under the surface and found the submerged car to be empty. She shouted back that it wasn't possible - and that was when he spotted them.

Now both wife and brother are desperately racing to the riverbank, both reaching out for that tiny sliver of hope.

Luke has gotten there before her. He's desperately pressing his fingers (shoving his whole hand, really) against the side of his brother's throat.

Luke's breathing is ragged and sounds half-choked. The river. He's just choking on water from the river. That's all.

Nathan is utterly silent. He's so very, very still lying there, turned onto his back, one leg half-twisted under the other. Mud from the riverbank is smeared across one side of his face and under that mud, his features are pale and still. So terrifyingly still.

Haley stutters to a desperately gasping halt, almost tripping over Rachel's inert body which lies in her path (an obstacle in the way, as if the selfish bitch is still trying to make everything about her even now), and Luke looks up from where he's bent over his brother.

And Haley stares at her best friend as he kneels there, his body visibly shaking and water dripping from his face. He's waterlogged from the river, she thinks. It must be cold that is causing those tremors. It can't be grief and the falling droplets can't be tears.

"I can't find a pulse." He barely manages more than a whisper.

Haley collapses onto the riverbank, but somehow finds her voice.

"No!" The first is a barked command which then it turns into a frenzied mantra, "no, no, no, no, no," as she scrambles on her hands and knees to Nathan's other side, presses her own hand against the side of his neck and keeps mumbling her denial at the stillness beneath her fingers.

Then she feels it - a rapid, tenuous flutter that matches her own racing heart.

"Oh, God!"

For just a moment, she's desperately afraid that it might be just her own hand shaking that she can feel, but no, his pulse is definitely there. _ He_ is definitely there.

She must say it aloud because Luke slumps slightly and murmurs, "Thank God."

But even as she places a hand over her husband's beating heart, she realises that she can't see or feel him breathing. Leaning down to place her cheek over his mouth, she can't feel any air coming out. Time slows down around her. The air thickens and tries to hold her down, still her movements. She fights it. She won't allow anything to hold her back or slow her down and she pinches Nathan's nose closed, seals her mouth over his and breathes five quick breaths into him.

His lips remain cold and still under hers and that almost makes her flinch. He's never been able to resist the touch of her lips. Even when his anger and resentment burned like fire, even when he tried to shield his heart by freezing her out, he still always responded if she kissed him, as if he simply couldn't help himself. Now she only feels cool, lax flesh under her lips. No breath, not the slightest reaction. In desperation, she pushes down harder, her teeth grazing his, but still nothing. Has he finally found a way to resist her? Dear God, has he finally found a way to leave her?

She hasn't any breath to spare for spoken words, but the chant of "no, no, no" starts up again in her head. If she just keeps breathing for him, then he's still there with her. If she stays focussed on that, then he can't slip away. She needs him to stay with her. There's so much that she hasn't even told him yet. The world fades away until she sees nothing except his face, still and silent below hers. She hears nothing except the chorus of denial inside her head.

She almost throws a punch when she feels someone grab her shoulder and try to pull her away.

There's a stranger kneeling beside her, saying something she can't hear. He's some kind of rescue worker, paramedic or policeman or whatever, and he's got his rough hand on her shoulder, shaking her, trying to make her understand something.

"You can stop now. He's breathing."

She pulls away from the hand on her shoulder, shaking her head instinctively and she really doesn't know why she does that. After all, he is saying _exactly_ what she most wants to hear, but it seems that denial is a double-edged weapon. Despite how fiercely determined she is to not let go, she's almost just as afraid to let hope take hold. The combination of the two immobilises her.

The rescue worker guy is still speaking to her slowly and carefully. At any other time, she might resent being patronised, but now she forces herself to listen.

"He's breathing on his own. Let us help him."

She feels her limbs slacken and then Luke is kneeling beside her, an arm around her shoulders almost the only thing keeping her upright.

The rescue worker and one of his colleagues, a woman, push past her to get to Nathan. Efficient hands slip an oxygen mask over his face and examine his body for injuries. Haley watches them, her mind and body suddenly dull and sluggish - until a sudden movement behind her makes her turn and look up.

Someone has already got Rachel onto stretcher. Two burly guys are carrying her uphill towards a waiting ambulance. It would seem that the damsel in distress takes priority, even if she is the first and last reasons that this whole mess has happened. Nathan and his uncle both nearly died (they still could) and Rachel is single-handedly to blame, but by all means, take care of _her_ first. Why shouldn't the stupid bitch get in the way once again?

Then the female paramedic says, "Okay, ready to go."

Haley turns back to see them lifting Nathan on another stretcher and shoots to her feet.

"I'm going with my husband!"

The guy at the foot of the stretcher turns his head to stare at her somewhat incredulously. He seems to realise what she is wearing for the first time. (Yes, Einstein, it's a _wedding_ dress!) His expression is a mixture of compassion and impatience.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we've only got one ambulance left here. The other one already left to take the other guy to the hospital. There's no room to take you too."

She knows that he's only being practical, but she can't bear to let Nathan out of her sight.

_"Please,"_ she begs with every ounce of her desperation.

His reply is taut with the urgency of the situation, but not unkind. "It takes 14 minutes to get to Tree Hill Hospital from here. We can't waste time." His gaze flicks up to the bridge. "You've got your cars here..."

"It's her husband," his colleague interrupts. "She's probably in no state to drive." She lifts her chin towards Lucas. "Can your friend here take you?"

"He's my _brother-in-law_." Haley doesn't know why she says it with such vehemence. Luke has been her friend, her _best_ friend, since before she even knew Nathan existed, but right now the crucial connection between them is the one bridged by Nathan. These people need to know that.

The paramedics are beginning to look slightly desperate now themselves, as they quickly exchange a glance.

"He's your brother?" The guy asks and Luke nods.

"Sir, we've got to go _now._ Are you okay to drive?" He sounds desperate for the answer to be "yes".

Luke's arm comes around Haley's shoulders again. "I'll do it." His voice is quietly determined. She realises that he's forcing himself to be strong because _someone_ has to.

The paramedics exchange one more purposeful nod and start carrying Nathan up the hill towards the road. Haley's heart lurches and she can't help taking half a step after them. She wants to stay by her husband's side, even though she knows she'll just be in the way.

They're doing what's best for Nathan. She has to trust that, but it's hard because these people just don't know. They can't understand how crucial and irreplaceable Nathan is. He has to come back to her. He simply _has_ to.

It's easier to trust Luke. Luke knows.

He wordlessly tugs on her shoulder and they half-run and half-stumble, as they climb up to the road where the Mustang is still parked.

She looks at the car and tears well up in her eyes, as she remembers the way Nathan grinned at the prospect of driving it when his brother handed over the keys. God, was that only 20 minutes ago?

Luke murmurs something to her, as he opens the passenger door, but neither looks at the other, as he then swings around, climbs into the driver's seat and starts the ignition.

They are both staring at where the ambulance has just pulled away.

It takes 14 minutes to drive to Tree Hill Hospital.

14 minutes feels like an eternity.


End file.
